Paths Converge
by Sargeosaurous Rex
Summary: With the death of Luke Skywalker, Rey is forced to learn the ways of the Jedi alone. Where is her place in all this? And where in the Force does the talented, charismatic pilot Poe Dameron fit in? How would her friends react if they knew she was connected to Kylo Ren? Join Rey as her path converges in the Force, and the Resistance faces the FO in the final battle. Rey/Poe endgame
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: everything belongs to Disney and Lucasfilm.

AN: So this is my first fanfic, so please, be gentle and give concrit only! I'm also in need of a beta, so I apologize for any errors/grammar mistakes. Please message me if you would be willing to help me out as a beta! I would be forever grateful!

I have to admit I don't mind Reylo, but I couldn't help but becoming Damerey trash after TLJ. That meet-cute! I can't get over it! And there's just not enough fanfic love for this ship, hence my attempt here. As the tag in the summary indicates, this is Rey/Poe endgame all the way, though there will be a dash of Rey/Kylo. I hope you enjoy! Another chapter will be posted soon.

Chapter 1

Never in his life had he felt such shame, such defeat as he did now. Poe Dameron was not a man used to failure; all his life he had excelled through his own hard work and innate talent. First in his prodigy-like affinity for flying when his mother first took him up in her old A-wing on their home moon of Yavin 4, handing him the controls as he sat on her lap, her hands hovering over his, just in case. Later in his record-setting tenure at the New Republic Flight Academy, known as the fastest, most acrobatic pilot, "flyboy", amongst all past and present cadets. "Force Sensitive", they had whispered; how else could he have pulled off such feats, the hair trigger turns and just-in-time maneuvers? Finally, he had become one of the youngest and most effective commanders in first the New Republic, and then in the Resistance.

But there was a reason the leadership kept getting younger and younger; it was people like him, _his fault_. The more seasoned members were killed, and killed, and killed, and eventually only the less tenured remained to begin to take the reins of leadership. Your fault! He mentally flogs himself again and again. It's people like him that keep getting valuable team members killed. With his ill-conceived notions of grand battle victories that cost too many resources and provided too few lasting, strategic results other than the initial spectacular explosion.

General Organa's previous words on the cruiser to him about his mistakes echo in his head, playing on a continuous, torturous loop.

He sat on the floor of the _Millennium Falcon_ with his head in his hands, tangling his fingers through his unruly waves of coffee-colored hair, elbows resting on knees folded towards his chest. They were currently hurtling through hyperspace with no specific destination in mind other than escape. With the quiet hum of the engines enfolding him, and the immediate threat of annihilation left behind on Crait, the events of the past few days are finally catching up. Without constant physical threat, he was left to navigate the battlefield of his own mind, wrestling with his conscience and his own expectations for himself.

Poe gave his hair one last tug of frustration, and lifted his head out of his hands. Eyes still closed, he allowed it to drop back with a thud against the side of the _Falcon_ 's dejarik table seats, permitting himself a small sigh that belies how much turmoil his thoughts contain. Actual seats and comfortable lodgings were scarce on a freighter of this size, and he doesn't want to take up such valuable passenger space as someone who was comparatively uninjured.

Well, it's Captain now _,_ he thought _._ He now believes General Organa completely justified in his demotion; his disobedience of her orders had decimated both the bombing team and his own squadron. His squadron trusted him to make the best decision for the entire team, believing he would bring back more alive than dead. He doesn't know how Rose could even look at him. Her only sister, Paige, was killed because of his insubordination. How he had been so arrogant as to protest the General's demotion? So blind not to recognize the unaffordable cost of his teammates' lives? Looking back, he barely understood his own behavior; it couldn't be reconciled with the kind of leader he constantly aimed to be. It felt like each of his combat decisions since fleeing D'Qar had been riddled with mistakes, short-sightedness, and recklessness. He was made to confront his own mistakes by one of the bravest women he had ever met, for all her faults—Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo. And she was dead too.

It had taken so much for him to realize his own weaknesses, he wondered if he even still deserved to be in the Resistance. Shouldn't they have just left him on Crait, where he couldn't lose more Resistance lives? He had almost sentenced them all to death there, too. Except… _Rey._

He had despaired in the caves, and it had been total and soul crushing. The small crystal fox-like creature had wriggled through a hole that couldn't have been bigger than his fist, and he thought they were done for. And then she saved them all for the second time that day, after arriving on the battle scene at Crait like one of the legends from the first Rebellion, like the stories the old veterans used to tell. A Jedi, swooping through the sky on the infamous _Millennium Falcon_ , first drawing off the tie fighters, and then using the Force to lift the tons of boulders blocking their only exit, showing barely any outward sign of strain. In that moment, he understood why his parents and other veterans of the first Galactic Civil War spoke of the Jedi like they were the sole reason the Empire was defeated, why the tide of victory turned in their favor. In that moment, she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Of course, he had heard so much about her already from both Finn and BeeBee-Ate, but he hadn't expected-

"Poe."

He was jerked out of his grim reflection by General Organa. She lowered herself with the assistance of her cane to sit on the old shipping crate in front of him, and he quickly opened his eyes and pasted on a crooked smile, attempting to project the positive, upbeat pilot that the Resistance is so used to seeing.

"I noticed you've been keeping to yourself for a lot of the flight so far. I would have expected you to be asking Chewie hundreds of questions about the _Falcon_ by now. How are you holding up?"

Poe sighed, and the smile worn as a mask slowly dissolves. He owed it to General Organa to give at least a semblance of an honest answer.

"I'm having a hard time reconciling myself to how much damage I have caused the Resistance," he answered. "I don't know why everyone doesn't hate me right now, or at the very least why they aren't giving me the cold shoulder."

It was true. For some reason everyone still looked at him like he is their greatest inspiration to soldier on, like he was going to lead them out of the darkness.

Leia's mouth turned downward at the edges, and her eyes crumpled in regret and grief. "Poe, this is a hard lesson every leader has to learn and sometimes re-learn. That there is an end goal beyond the current mission, and resources shouldn't be sacrificed in the present if it compromises the future."

"But all our people, killed, we lost so much, and I…" Poe stopped and drew in a harsh breath, unable to raise his eyes to Leia's.

She reached out, her hand grasping his shoulder with a small shake of emphasis to get him to look at her.

"I've made the same mistake myself, Poe, so has every captain, commander, admiral, general, and any other leader. What matters is that you learn from it." She took her hand from his shoulder, her eyes holding his.

"You did not kill our brave Resistance men and women. The First Order did, and each of them went into the mission knowing what was at stake, knowing full well the risk. And the Resistance itself is not dead, which is something we have you to thank for."

Poe shook his head, "But I failed on Crait too, if it weren't for Rey we would be slaughtered by the First Order, bloody on the ground of that salt mine right now."

"No, Poe, if not for you, we would never have had a chance on Crait in the first place. Who else could have led us into that battle, and then gave us the courage and the hope that there was another way out of the mine? I know you ordered the pilots to turn back from the initial offensive on Crait against that battering ram. You _have_ realized your weaknesses, and next time when faced with a similar situation, I know you will hold these lessons in your mind."

She stood slowly, giving him a pat on the shoulder once more, and offering a reassuring grin before walking past with some final words. "Now get up, go find that wookie and ask your questions, leave these thoughts behind. That way is folly and only leads to sleepless nights with slow insanity. Trust me, I've been there."

Poe stretched his legs out straight from their cramped position, considering Leia's words as she walked away. He wasn't sure if he would ever be able to forgive himself for the loss of life he considers his fault, but it wouldn't do to continue to wallow, useless to his friends around him.

With that, he mustered himself up off the common area floor, realizing that he had not seen Beebee-Ate since boarding the _Falcon_ almost eight hours ago, when he had finally had the chance to introduce himself to Rey. Not finding him in the common area with the rest of the Resistance, Poe decided to take the General's advice and explore the famous ship while looking for his erstwhile droid companion. He didn't want to bother Chewie, but that didn't mean he couldn't poke around.

Walking along the worse for wear corridor to the pilot cockpit, he rapped his fingers on the cockpit door, hearing the familiar cheerful chirps of his droid inside in response.

"Come on in", a human voice called out.

He pushed open the cockpit door. "I hope I'm not disrupting you, I was just looking for Beebee-Ate and hoping to learn a bit more about this infamous freighter. I thought I might find Chewie up here."

Rey turned from the cockpit console, swiveling the pilot's chair to face him. Poe couldn't help but notice she looked as exhausted and beaten as he felt. He wondered how long she had been manning the ship, how much rest she had gotten since take-off. She had a nasty looking wound on her right shoulder that was untreated and unbandaged, and there were dark smudges beneath her red rimmed eyes. He had never seen her hair as mussed as it was now, with strands pushed out of the single small ponytail she had taken to wearing, and the loose bottom half of her hair sporting a rumple as if it had been pressed against the pilot's chair for too long. He hadn't seen it out of the three-bun style she wore prior to going to Ahch-To, and he couldn't help but think it suited her, despite its current disheveled state.

"I told him he could take the first 10 hours of flight to rest, and then we could switch pilot duty. He's been keeping this thing in the air since we left Ahch-To, he deserved a break." She explained. "As for Beebee-Ate, while I can claim that I have no intention of kidnapping your droid, I have to admit I appreciate his company," she said, smiling affectionately down at the little BB- unit as he beeped in agreement.

Poe stepped further into the cockpit, sinking into the co-pilot's chair next to her, absentmindedly patting Beebee-Ate's small domed head as the droid rolled toward him and settled in between the two seats.

"You have no idea how much he talked about you after you left, I think I should worry less about the prospect of you kidnapping him and more about his defecting and running away with you," he teased.

Beebee-Ate shrilled, affronted, and Rey scoffed. "There's definitely no chance of that, your little droid here has some of the most complex loyalty programming I've ever seen. Since meeting him on Jakku, returning to you has been his highest priority. I'm just lucky enough to be someone he's decided is a friend, I think."

Beebee-Ate chimed in agreement. _[Favorite Friend Rey is right! I would never leave_ _Favorite Master Friend Poe! Who would make sure his coordinates for each mission has been entered correctly? His flight suit would never get cleaned and I would not get to see him.]_

The faint hint of a blush peeked out the collar of Poe's shirt, and he rubbed the back of his head uncomfortably. "Oh come on Beebee, you know the coordinate thing was just one time, and that was because I had bad intel. And I would have clean flight suits! They're scheduled for cleaning every week!"

 _[That's because I schedule it, Master Friend Poe!]_

"Ok, ok, fine, I know I would be a mess without you around, I know I'm lucky to have you." Poe conceded very solemnly. The droid beeped once, satisfied, before nuzzling his domed head against Poe's leg.

Rey let out a small giggle at the exchange, and Poe was glad his embarrassment at least succeeded in lifting her spirits, even if it does make him look like an incompetent nerf herder.

"So how has does this old bucket of bolts handle after all these years? Is she as fast and slick as all the old stories say?" Poe inquired.

"Well first of all, don't let Chewie hear you call her a 'bucket of bolts'. Wookies have been known to tear limbs off, or so I've heard. But yeah, she's certainly gotten us out of a few tight spots since Finn and I flew her off of Jakku with Beebee-Ate."

Rey gestured to the console in front of her. "As you can see, she has had a lot of customized modifications, but they have been mostly to her advantage, in my opinion, but Chewie could probably tell you more about why exactly each customization was added on."

Poe nodded in agreement; from what he can see, while the modifications aren't necessarily what he would have chosen, he can't deny that whichever cunning trader or smuggler had the idea definitely knew their way around this particular starship. But there was something there, that she said, that peaked his interest-

He did a quick scan of her form while she was still turned toward the console. Her lithe form, with compact, wiry muscle conveyed a strength under control, and he had no doubt that such a small build translated into agility and speed during a fight that was likely to be unmatched. He can't help but be surprised that she possesses such beauty as well, that it had not been stamped out during her time on Jakku, planet of hopelessness that it was.

With all that Finn and Beebee-Ate told him about her, they had never mentioned this, and never had he pictured a Jedi that was, well...pretty. And so clearly feminine. Dusky eyelashes curling away from her cheeks, framing eyes of a shade that sometimes seemed like the deepest, richest caf, and other times seemed a particular shade of mossy green that reminded him of a curling fern that was native to his home planet of Yavin 4. She held such beauty in spite of, or perhaps made even more apparent by, her current state of physical and mental exhaustion, and this made her appearance seem all the more honest.

Not just outward beauty; he had to imagine it is obvious to anyone that came in contact with her that she possesses a singular inner beauty as well, a kindness towards everyone, especially those who might be easily overlooked or taken for granted, like his beloved Beebee-Ate. Rey. It was such an appropriate name, because she radiated warmth, kindness, and an openness for anyone who bothered to take the time to gain her trust.

Poe mentally gave himself a shake. Yes, Poe, and I'm sure she would be so pleased to know you deem her acceptable and pleasing to the eye, he thought to himself sarcastically. Get your head out of your ass and come back to reality. Not like there's a war going on or anything, or that we're currently fleeing for our lives, he thought, rolling his eyes at himself.

He realized she's looking at him questioningly, likely wondering why his eyes have glazed over as he stared blankly at a spot just over her head.

He cleared his throat, realizing she was looking at him questioningly because of his glazed over stare, and fought back another slight blush that he could feel creeping up his neck. Kriff, what's wrong with him, he felt like a bumbling idiot with a bad case of hero worship around her.

"Finn had mentioned he met you on Jakku. How long did you spend there before flying off in this thing?" He asked, trying to recapture his normal ease and confidence by leaning back in the chair, propping one ankle up on the opposite knee, and folding his hands behind his head.

She shifted restlessly from one side of the chair to another, glancing down at the beat up floor of the cockpit, and it struck him suddenly that maybe he's asked too personal a question.

"There's never a time that I can remember _not_ being on Jakku. There's no other place I can claim that I'm from." She said this bitterly, with an despondent twist to her mouth. "I know you all think I'm some mythical hero who will save the whole galaxy, but I'm from nowhere, and I came from nothing. Just Jakku. That's something I know now, and there's no use in trying to pretend otherwise."

Beebee-Ate trilled sadly, disagreeing with her view of herself and rolling over to nudge her leg in consolation.

"I'm not sure who tried to convince you that's true, but it seems to me they are missing the most important part of being alive, and I almost want to sucker-punch them for causing you to think that. You are who you make yourself to be, not what others make you into. And for what it's worth, at the risk of contradicting myself, no one on this ship thinks that about you. You're one of us, no matter where you came from or who you are. I just met you, but even I can see as clear as day that you're one of the most amazing people I know, and not because you're a Jedi."

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, mussing it and causing it to drape across his forehead. He almost reached out to put a hand on her knee in front of him, but drew back, thinking better of it. "I hope you know that you can count on me if you need anything. I'll do whatever I can to help you out. No one should feel alone with times being what they are."

Rey was silent for a moment, her gaze fixed on her hands twisting in her lap, before finally dragging it up to lock with his. "I guess I've never thought of it like that." She swallowed thickly, blinking back suddenly glassy eyes. "And no one's ever explained it to me that way, or offered to be there before."

Her hazel eyes held his brown ones, sincerity in their depths. "Thank you, truly. That's just what I needed right now."

He smiled warmly, still holding her gaze. "Anytime, and I know I can speak for Beebee-Ate and Finn too. You were the first thing Finn asked about after he woke up, you know, running around basically naked on the cruiser leaking bacta."

A sharp rap on the cockpit door startled them out of the conversation, and Finn poked his head through the door.

"Did I just hear my name mentioned? The bacta incident again, Poe, really? Do you have to tell everyone about that?" Finn rolled his eyes good naturedly as he stepped further in.

"Anyway, I came to find you guys to let you know General Organa has called a conference in the common area for all of us. I think she may have finally received a response to our distress signal." He finished.

Poe and Rey both stood, and Poe gestured for her to proceed before him through the door, and she followed Finn to the common area.

The trio joined the rest of the remaining Resistance in the room, focusing on General Organa who leaned on front of the dejarik table waiting until everyone was present. Finn immediately went back to stand next to Rose's place on one of the few bunks on the ship, and took her hand once more. Poe stood off to his side, with Rey taking a place near the foot of the bunk. Rose remained in an unconscious state, and while stable, Finn and the rest of the Resistance were anxious for her to wake up and make a full recovery.

Leia began to speak to the room. "I have good news for everyone; I know flying at hyperspeed without a particular destination is never a comfortable feeling for anyone, so I am happy to report that we finally have a safe destination where we can lie low and re-group."

There were relieved smiles and even a chuckle here or there at the good news, and Poe exchanged a questioning look with Finn, who shrugged as if to say 'you know as much as I do', and they both directed their attention back to the General.

Leia waited for the group to settle back down before continuing, relief and happiness at the turn of fortune reflected in her voice. "In response to our repeated distress calls with my personal signal, I have received word from an old ally on Naboo, the former Queen Sosha Soruna. She is willing to shelter us in one of the former royal military outposts that is no longer in use in a remote area, near her family home. She has also managed to get in contact with some of my own family on the planet from my mother's side, the Naberries. My cousin, Pooja, has also expressed willingness to provide what aid and supplies she can."

With that, the group erupted into chatter, some faces excited, others filled with more trepidation, directing questions at each other and the General, who spoke once more over the din.

"I know there are lots of questions, I have many of the same- but I trust Sosha Soruna, she would not shelter us in unfriendly or in an exposed area. There is much I do not yet know of the location or what sort of aid we will find there, so we are all just going to have to accept that some things are unknown until arrival." She turned to face Rey directly, who stood a bit straighter at the attention from where she was leaning against the wall near the bunk.

"Rey, once you and Chewie have entered the destination coordinates, it will be about 2 days until we reach the planet on the outside of the Mid-Rim. Soruna has provided me with the exact location of the landing strip where we are to arrive. Everyone-" She addressed the room again, "get some rest and recovery while you can, it's going to be all hands on deck once we land to get the semblance of a base set up."

The rebels began to disperse, quiet conversations beginning all over the ship. Well, Poe considered, there were worse places to hide out than Naboo, although he would have preferred a less populated and politically charged planet. As the former Emperor's homeplanet, he knew it used to house pockets of imperial sympathizers after their defeat, although it was said they had pretty much all been wiped out. They were lucky General Organa still had ties to her mother's home planet. He shuffled closer to Finn and Rey, who stood talking quietly as they both looked down at Rose.

"Naboo. I guess we'll see what is waiting for us there. At least it's not a planet like Hoth, I always heard that base was miserable," Poe said, shrugging his shoulders slightly.

"I'm just glad someone finally answered our distress call. It's nice to know there's someone in the galaxy that's still willing to support the Resistance," Finn answered. "It's nice to know that last stand on Crait wasn't a waste." He grasped Rose's unresponsive hand and cradled it to his chest.

Poe exchanged a worried glance with Rey, both of them hearing the words Finn didn't say. That Rose's sacrifice to save him wasn't a waste. She gave Finn a reassuring smile, and placed her hand on his forearm briefly.

"Well, I'm going to go find Chewie so we can get the ship programmed for Naboo. You should get some rest Finn, you've been at her side since we left. Chewie will be taking over the flight shift for me soon, I'll come get you after and we can find some rations, there might even be some tea left. And maybe we can take another look for any medical supplies that could help Rose."

Finn nodded appreciatively, seemingly relieved at the prospect of someone to keep him company while he worries over Rose, but after she turned to leave for the cockpit, he shook his head at Poe and gestured towards her back in a low voice.

"She's the one who needs some rest, she's been piloting this ship since take-off. I know she doesn't need anyone to take care of her, but I just wish she would take a bit better care of herself."

Poe nodded, and hummed in agreement, seemingly already lost in his own thoughts as he pulled up an empty shipping crate to sit near Finn. He was beginning to see what Finn meant; Rey might be able to take care of herself, but that didn't mean she didn't need someone to care, starting with him finding a med-pack for that untreated wound on her shoulder. It was something he would start paying attention to as they settled on Naboo.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks so much to xpurplexbutterflyx, vercahvl, and Gummybear1178 for the reviews! Alright, a quick update with this chapter because it was already queued up. Chapter 3 will take me a bit longer to post (because it hasn't been written yet!). But anyway, hopefully this one is a bit more original and polished than chapter 1. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

The former Queen Sosha Soruna had certainly delivered handsomely on her promise of aid. The old Nubian military location had not been in use since before the Clone Wars, so while much of the structure and its technology was dusty and out of date, there was no reason for anyone to suspect they were sheltering in the location, if they even remembered it existed. The fact that it was completely invisible to anyone on land was an added bonus; the base was wholly underwater, accessible only by the hangar and a few tunnels. The main tunnel entrance was a concealed, gradually descending passage located on one of the islands of the lake, and other tunnels had various access points on the land surrounding the lake. After arriving at Soruna's family home on the banks of the lake, she had taken a small group of them to the access island by boat, and they were able to direct Rey and Chewie on the _Falcon_ on how to find the hangar to land the ship.

The hangar itself was something else entirely. On the north side of the lake was a large waterfall, several battle cruisers wide, serving as the mouth of the hangar. The entry and exit for ships was directly through the watery curtain, with large hangar doors diverting the water upon takeoff and landing. This prevented the ships from being drenched, pounded down by the weight of the water, and dashed to pieces in the rocky sea below. Soruna had lamented that she was not able to provide more than the two Pre-Clone War era Nubian starfighters, a couple of ground transports, and a small group of droids, all in varying states of disrepair. But the rebels had no complaints. The base had been equipped with everything they needed to continue to rebuild the Rebellion, despite the general state of disuse.

Everyone had done their part to get the site up and running. When someone had started to throw out old rations or a heap of broken droid parts, Rey had immediately protested and took them as her own responsibility to salvage. She was a scavenger. Nothing was wasted and everything had use; but she still noticed the odd looks she had received from the rest of the Resistance.

After a month of repairing, cleaning, and elbow grease, the base was finally livable and functional as a Rebel base. Rey was able to re-devote her attention to her half-finished (or barely started, she told herself) Jedi training. She spent her mornings meditating and studying the ancient Jedi texts in her quarters on the _Falcon_ , before making her way to the mess hall for a quick breakfast. After breakfast, she would usually join Rose, who had made a full recovery, in the maintenance room or hangar to continue to make repairs and improvements to the old tech and the Nubian starfighters, before grabbing a nutrition ration and making her way to the training room for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was followed by meetings called by General Organa or brief moments of free time before more meditation and study until she finally went to bed.

They had almost been on planet long enough for it to become a routine; sometimes Finn joined her in training and sparring, but the other Resistance fighters mostly left her to her own devices. Other times she joined Chewie in the constant maintenance the _Falcon_ seemed to require. Free time and meals were spent with Finn, Rose, Chewie, or sometimes Poe, although Beebee-Ate frequently sought her out regardless if Poe was with him.

She had become comfortable around Poe and Rose, but she was still getting used having so many people around her all the time. So many people greeting her with a friendly hello and a smile instead of threatening violence for looking at them the wrong way. To have anyone near the place she slept (she never called the AT-AT "home" and she couldn't quite bring herself to call the base "home" yet either) used to be call for alarm, and she still struggled to ignore the ingrained instinct. That was why she chose to make her quarters on the _Falcon_ ; it was much quieter and more private than sleeping in the barracks. If anywhere had started to feel like home, it was the legendary ship.

On the other side of the transparisteel wall of the training room, ripples of light and shadow swirled on the sandy lake bottom, a waving pattern created by the refracted rays of the setting sun above the surface, and Rey was transfixed. Even though they had been stationed at the base now for more than a month, she still marveled at the cloudy aquamarine water that surrounded the submerged outpost. The defunct Nubian outpost was designed in such a way that many of the outside walls were made of transparisteel, so she could see directly out into the lake from several rooms in the outpost. It was quite distracting, especially when native creatures like the inquisitive pom-hoppers decided to press their noses to the glass to peer back at her while she was attempting to meditate.

The training rooms after dinner were usually deserted, and she could stare out into the blue lake without anyone thinking she was odd and without the stress of trying to navigate around the social niceties that came naturally to others. She loved to meditate down here at this time of day. She could reach out with the Force, let go of her own consciousness and the troubles of the day, and just _bask_ in the fluidity of the water just beyond the transparisteel. The gently waving kelp, the drifting sea creatures, the sand dancing on the lake bed as it was stirred by a crustacean- all there for her to _feel_ , breathing in peace, breathing out emotion. In, knowledge, out, ignorance. In, serenity, out, passion. In, harmony, out-

All sound ceased, as sudden as the drop from hyperspace. She was in the void, and she wasn't alone.

"It is impossible for you and the Resistance to continue running. Not when the Force connects us like this so often. Eventually, I will see where you are," a growling voice threatened from somewhere on her right side.

Rey slowly opened her eyes and remained with her legs folded below her in meditative position, and saw Kylo Ren, Supreme Leader of the First Order in her peripheral vision. She grasped at the peaceful calm brought on by her meditative state and wrapped it around herself like a cloak.

"I _will_ find a way to cut this connection, or block you out."

"I don't know why you try to fool yourself, Rey. These people don't want you here. You should have joined me, you can still join me. You know you don't belong here. Don't forget, I can feel your thoughts, your feelings, and I've seen into your mind." Kyle began to circle her like a predator stalking his prey, piercing her with his stare.

Rey remained where she was, following his movement with her eyes.

"You say this everytime we meet, Kylo, and your repetitiveness is tiring. My answer remains the same: I will never join you or the First Order. You should reconsider your strategy here," she taunted.

He flicked his eyes up and down her seated form, eyes narrowing in irritation.

"Rey, you would be so much better placed at my side. You would feel your true belonging, grow into your powers and your strength. All would love you as their queen, and you would never feel alone again. Is this not what you want? I know your deepest desires- you can only find them at my side!"

"You forced yourself into my mind, and Snoke forced this connection on us; your so called 'understanding' of me is twisted. You've made it into what you want it to be, but you shouldn't make the mistake of thinking it's the truth," she bit back.

The sound of approaching chrome rolling on the stone of the hallway, beeps echoing cheerfully, had Rey whipping her head towards the door of the training room in alarm.

"Even now you fear what your so called 'friends' would do if they truly knew you. Think of me and this conversation next time you feel out of place, and you'll find I'm right."

Kylo Ren faded from the room, and the sounds of the evening rushed back into place.

Rey closed her eyes, inhaling a shaky breath, and slowly opening them as she heard the door to training room open. She thanked the force that the sound of Beebee-Ate coming down the hall seemed to cause her connection to Kylo Ren to close, and thanked the force again that it closed before the droid entered the training room.

BeeBee-Ate was accompanied by the sure footsteps of Poe Dameron. Rey gave herself another beat to compose her emotions and expression before standing, brushing off the seat of her pants, and turning to face them.

 _[Favorite Friend Rey! We have brought you some shurra and muja fruit!]_ Beebee-Ate chirped excitedly.

"You left the mess hall before some of the others came in with a couple bushels from the natural groves around the lake. I have to say, they're delicious, it even rivals the koyo melons from where I'm from. We wanted to make sure you had a chance to try them," Poe explained with a smile,walking towards her and displaying up both hands full of the small round fruits. "I think the shurras are my favorite so far."

"Hey, are you ok? You've got this look in your eyes like someone has just told you you're not allowed to fly the _Millenium Falcon_ ever again."

"Yeah, I'm fine, just got finished with some meditation. Sometimes it's an adjustment coming back to my normal awareness," she lied, brushing him off. She felt a pang of guilt before squashing it down. It's not like she could ell him that she was connected through the Force to the most dangerous man in the galaxy. Poe seemed to accept her explanation without further comment, even if he still gave her a look like he didn't quite believe her.

Beebee-Ate approached as well, his round body opening up and also offering two or three of the different fruits for her to choose from.

Rey felt herself smiling despite herself, her demeanor marginally relaxing. She led them over to a side table in the training room and took a seat, examining what Beebee had to offer. The shurra had an elliptical shape with slightly fuzzy, green-red skin, and the muja was perfectly round, bright red in color. She selected one of the shurras, turning it curiously in her palms, enjoying the gentle weight and tiny, down fuzz texture of the fruit.

Poe tossed one of his shurras up and down a few times, before taking a large bite, the sticky sweet syrup coating his lips with a small drop catching at the corner of his mouth as he chewed slowly. His eyes closed at the sweetness, and Rey found she couldn't quite tear her eyes from his full lips and the line of his throat, his adam's apple bobbing as he swallowed the mouthful. His eyes popped open as he let out a "mmm" of satisfaction, and Rey hurriedly looked back to the fruit in her hand, squeezing it experimentally.

"So are you going to give it a try or are you considering using it as a projectile for target practice?" He teased.

"I'm getting there, I'm getting there, just making sure you guys didn't give me a worm infested one," she tossed back with a grin. Beebee-Ate hooted, affronted at the suggestion.

"You've got juice all here, by the way," she added casually, indicating the area around his mouth. Poe made a cursory swipe with the back of his hand and leaned on the table close to her, not quite touching, waiting with anticipation for her to try it.

She still hadn't grown used to the availability of fresh food, and whenever she encountered something new, she liked to test it with all her senses before eating it entirely. It was less about worrying that she wouldn't like it, and more about making sure she experienced it as wholly as possible, novelty that it was. Even when she didn't like it, she always left an empty plate; to waste would be an unforgivable offense in her book.

She brought the plump flesh to her nose, and after giving it one sniff, gingerly took a small nibble. The flavor exploded on her tongue, a mix of a fresh sweetness, not too saccharine, with a slight bite of tang on the end that had her sucking in her cheeks and pressing her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She took a much larger bite.

"It has so much flavor!" she said around the mouthful.

Poe grinned down at her, his eyes crinkling amusedly. "So is that a good flavor or a bad flavor?"

Rey let her eyes flutter closed, considering, tipping her head back slightly. She swallowed and brought her head back down, opening her eyes to look back up at him, crossing one knee over the other and settling back in the chair.

"Definitely good," she praised, chuckling as he pumped his fist victoriously, and Beebee-Ate trilled gleefully in a small circle.

"I knew you'd like it! I think I'm going to make it my personal mission to help you find your favorite food."

Rey knew he had been aghast when she had answered his question about "favorite food" with a shrug and statement how food merely provided sustenance. Eating was done out of necessity, not pleasure.

"Well, I won't try to stop you! Force knows there's plenty I've never heard of or tried. I think I can say at this point this is my favorite thing that grows out of the ground though," she confirmed.

Poe turned to his droid. "Then that's my most important mission of the day accomplished, Beebee-Ate. Thanks for your help as always, little buddy."

Poe dropped down in front of Beebee-Ate and gave him happy pats all over. Rey grinned down at them as she finished the shurra and slid down from the chair to express her appreciation to Beebee-Ate as well. Just then, Poe's commlink beeped, and he unhooked it from the belt around his trousers and peered at the message.

"Well, The General needs me in the communication center. Something about obtaining decommissioned X-wings." They stood up, and Rey couldn't help but feel slightly awkward at what seemed like much closer proximity; she could still see a shiny trace of the nectar clinging to his lips along with the individual hairs of his end-of-day whiskery shadow. Rey took a step back for more comfortable space between them, and Poe began to turn to make his departure when Rey snatched the sleeve of his jacket.

"Thanks a lot for the fruit," she said slightly awkward, but unsure how exactly to express her thanks.

"No problem. I'm on the hunt for your favorite food, now," he said, looking down at her with a wink that brought a slight warmth to the tops of her cheeks. "Have a good night, I'll see you tomorrow." Beebee-Ate trilled a goodbye as well, and followed him into the hallway.

The tranquil silence was insulated by the water beyond the glass, echoing with his departure, a far cry from the soundless void that indicated the arrival of Ren's menace.

Rey allowed herself one slam of her fist down onto the desk in her small quarters of the _Falcon_ before tamping down on her frustration. She tilted the chair back, and closed her eyes, one arm folded over her ribs and the other pinching the bridge of her nose as she thought furiously, trying to stave off an encroaching headache.

She had been pouring over the Jedi texts for any mention force bonds, the severing of force bonds in particular. For that matter, she had also been looking for anything on construction of lightsabers, the split remains of Anakin Skywalker's blade looming over her disapprovingly in the alcove of the wall of her bunk. The only mention she found of the former was a historical account of the bond between an ancient master-apprentice pair. For the latter, she had found a section on the force-conductive, force-sensitive kyber crystals, and their application in the traditional Jedi weapon. But the planets mentioned for where to find the crystals either no longer existed or went by another name.

She considered the bond and the individual on the other end. She refused to call him Ben after all that had happened. He had clearly turned away from the possibility of returning to the light for the near future, and if Ben Solo still existed he was buried deep within Kylo Ren. The first time they had been connected after Crait had not been pretty. He had tried and failed to force choke her for refusing to join him, and when that didn't work, he started shucking objects from the room around him at her in a rage, causing her to draw upon the force to shield herself from the barrage. Eventually, he had gone back to trying to convince her to join him.

She was just lucky that up until now most of their 'chats' had occured while she was by herself. Rey wasn't sure how she would handle Kylo appearing while she was amongst others in the Resistance, even if they couldn't see him. Luke had proven that at least those attuned to the Force could see him while they were in a connection.

She shoved the chair back from her desk and stepped over to her bunk, collapsing with a flop, limbs sprawled half on, half off the bed and an arm thrown over her face. She frowned, took her arm away from her view and lifted the weight of her head up and down on the bed again, testing. She had a pillow, a fluffy one. How odd. She had never slept with a pillow before, the natural slant of her hammock on Jakku making it unnecessary, and she had made-do without one until now.

Even more curious was that she hadn't noticed the addition when she came in. It must have been Beebee-Ate, that lovely droid, she thought fondly. Since arriving at base he had constantly been doing small things like this, just little things that made her more comfortable, or brought her some small personal happiness. She suspected it had more to do with Beebee-Ate's master, and the droid was happily following orders. Poe had never mentioned anything about it, so she gratefully took his lead and didn't bring it up. She wasn't even sure how she would begin to thank him, and she supposed if he didn't claim responsibility she didn't have to owe him for it . People being _nice_ to her for no reason was practically unheard of before she had met Finn, and she found it hard to believe that there was no agenda. She was still getting used to 3 meals a day and the fact that people enjoyed having her around.

After their 'heart to heart' on the _Falcon_ on the way to Naboo, she had been embarrassed about spilling her guts, revealing so much weakness to someone she barely knew. She found she quite liked the talented Commander, but she didn't like being exposed so completely, and tried to prevent other such situations from happening again. He was just so _open,_ so easy to talk to. Resistance Pilots like him had been the stuff of her dreams on Jakku, her heroes, all she ever wanted to be. And to finally meet him and actually get to know him….she could admit to herself in the privacy of her own quarters that she could never have dreamed up anything quite like him.

She heaved herself off the bunk, and walked to the 'fresher to get ready for bed, re-focusing her thoughts on her problems with the bond and her lack of lightsaber. She wondered if Leia had ever been privy to any of Luke's Jedi trainings. Leia had watched both her brother and her son become a Jedi , so it was possible she might have some insight, Rey considered. And while the texts might not specifically address force bonds, there was at least a significant amount of material on mental discipline, which could build up her defenses and control of the bond.

A bit more comforted by having some sort of plan of action, Rey climbed back into her bunk and snuggled into her new pillow, hoping for sleep that was free of troubling dreams of red lightsabers, burning dark eyes, and endless horizons of sand.


	3. Chapter 3

AN: Finally getting this posted! I've been writing and revising furiously since the last post. This was a difficult chapter to write, but I hope you like it! Please review on the bottom *please please* :)

Chapter 3

 _DISSENSION AMONGST THE RANKS?_

 _There have been whispers that several Generals in Supreme Leader Kylo Ren's First Order are undermining his efforts to control his empire, making their own plays for power. Can Ren keep his own army under control?_

 _A SUPREME EMBARRASSMENT_

 _Supreme Leader Kylo Ren's new flagship dreadnought_ Pestilence _faltered on her maiden voyage, drifting in atmo of First Order controlled planet Arkanis for 5 hours before repair crews could jump-start the engines. Rumours of sabotage persist._

 _RIOTS ON CORUSCANT_

 _During a march to protest poor living conditions and food desserts in the lower income levels of the city, crowds of hundreds erupted into violence in the Galactic City. Reports of blaster fire and tear gas use by First Order Stormtroopers and police in retaliation and in efforts to regain control of the crowd._

 _._ _..._ _._

In the weeks since establishing the base on Naboo, the fractured factions of the Resistance slowly started trickling in. Members from splintered Resistance bases throughout the galaxy came to join General Leia to re-strengthen and re-consolidate. Somewhat unexpectedly, they were also gaining new recruits who had been put in contact by Resistance allies, swelling their numbers to about 100 within the outpost. Poe and the remaining Red and Blue Squadron pilots had retrieved the five de-commissioned X-wings from a trader sympathetic to their cause, and their small star fleet now totaled 8 ships, including the _Millennium Falcon._ All told, the base was becoming a little crowded, and Rey was glad to be leaving on a mission to Coruscant in a week.

Rey had approached Leia for advice on repairing the lightsaber, and while Leia couldn't tell her any specific instructions on how to repair or create one, she was able to provide recommendations on where she might find more information. "Where" had ended up being the former Imperial Palace and Jedi Temple on Coruscant, where Leia had reason to believe the Jedi archives still remained untouched and uncorrupted by the dead Emperor's prior occupation. She had told Rey of Luke's secret trip to the Temple not long after the Empire's capitulation, researching the all but extinct Jedi Order in preparation of opening his own Academy. Luke had informed Leia of the wealth of information the Temple still contained, despite the evil that had resided in its halls during the Galactic Empire. He had used the Force to seal the compound against vandals and intruders, and so it remained, vacant and untouched, as far as Leia was aware.

However, the General also wanted to use travel to Coruscant as an additional opportunity to build up the Resistance. While the New Republic's capital had been located on the Hosnian System, Coruscant remained a highly influential Core World, a central hub of the galaxy. Potential allies held centers of operation on Coruscant, and Leia wanted to Rey to make contact and persuade them to offer support, with (reinstated) Commander Dameron as her mission partner.

They were scheduled to depart in six days, after the General finished preparing mission arrangements and logistics.

 _..._

"I just don't know how he feels about me. He hasn't brought it up at all and he still treats me the exact same way as before," Rose said, sighing despondently and distractedly handing Rey torque wrench from her place sitting on the ground below the belly of the X-wing.

"I need the torque _spanner_ , not the torque _wrench."_

Rose corrected her action, chin in one hand and the other extended directly overhead with the tool in question.

Rey took the tool and turned back to her position laid flat on the repair platform on the underside of the ship, arms buried to the elbow in the mechanics of the X-wing only inches from her nose. "Rose, I've seen the way he looks at you when he thinks you're not paying attention. He probably just doesn't know what to do about his feelings. He's probably just scared."

"I don't know...I just wish I knew one way or the other, instead of feeling like everything's in limbo like this," Rose shifted her position below Rey, looking up to watch her repairs. "Oh, hey, I would have never thought to cover the shield deflectors like that. That's a pretty nifty idea."

Rey scrubbed a piece of hair out of her face, gritting her teeth as she cranked down on the torque spanner, tightening a bolt to more securely keep the shield deflectors protected.

"Hopefully it will extend the shield protections on these older T-65 models. It seems like those are the first things taken out during enemy fire. This, along with the three sixty degree modifications to the blaster cannons should make these babies almost on par with the T-70s. Why they didn't produce the cannons with the swiveling turret fire capability, I have no idea. Seems like a no-brainer to me."

Rose agreed, still peering up curiously, watching as Rey continued to fiddle with the shields. Across the hangar, Rose noticed Poe enter and approach with Beebee-Ate rolling on his heels.

"Actually, I think I may be able to extend the range of these cannons too," Rey buried her head in the belly of the ship, so that only the lower half of her body on the repair platform was visible, peering down to the mechanism of the gun turret in the s-foil of the wing. "Can you get me that plasma welder, Rose?"

Rey threw her hand down for Rose to hand her the welder, connecting with something fleshy and pointed, hearing a muffled "oomph" from outside the ship's belly, followed by wild laughing, shrill beeping, and a long groan. Rey quickly dropped her head out of the ship and spun her body off the platform, landing gracefully near a cross-eyed Poe, who had his hands clasped to his nose in pain.

She raised her hand to her mouth in a gasp, "Poe! I'm so sorry! I didn't know anyone else was there! Are you alright?"

Rose was almost doubled over in laughter, gasping for air, and Poe titled his head back, one hand on the bridge of his nose, giving a wet sniff.

"Ya, I've had worse, I don't think it's bleeding. Force, you pack a punch! And you weren't even trying!" He gave another sniff and scrunched his nose, testing the feeling in the appendage. "Argh, anyway, I was just coming over to see how you and Rose were doing with the repairs, see if there was anything me and Beebee-Ate could help with. Did I hear something about extending the cannon range?"

Rose nodded excitedly, and answered for them both. "Yeah, Rey's a genius with these old X-wings. I think even you could learn a few things from her."

Poe looked back to Rey, examining her slightly sweaty face, a swipe of engine grease on her right cheek, the grease stains on her hands, protective eye goggles shoved askance on top of her head, and spark alight in her eyes from the joy of the work. Rey raised her chin, folded her arms across her chest, and lifted an eyebrow, quirking a smile in challenge at Poe.

"Is that so? Well, let's see it then," Poe said, turning towards her and lifting an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth in return.

Rey lit up, gesturing animatedly at various parts of the ship as she described the modifications, with Rose chiming in here and there with more detail. She couldn't help the confidence that came into her voice, and rightly so. This was where she felt most comfortable, and tinkering with the star ships in the hangar was the most familiar thing on base to her. She knew these T-65 model X-wings like the back of her hand. They had littered the sands of Jakku, and she had spent a lot of time taking them apart and putting them back together just for curiosity's sake.

She motioned for Poe to come towards the belly of the ship, wheeling the repair platform out of the way so they could both stand looking up into the it. He leaned towards her, focusing all his attention on what she was describing, excitement growing and grin becoming more and more pronounced as she continued on. He was looking at her with a strange gleam in his warm brown eyes, and it occurred to her that it was possibly the same spark she felt whenever she elbow deep in the engine of a ship, the challenge of engineering. She was pleasantly surprised at his interest in their work. Most pilots knew a thing or two about maintenance, but once you got into the details their eyes would glass over.

"So, I think if we reduce the circumference of the turret to force a smaller intake chamber for the ionized cryogenic cells, it could propel the bolt at least another five hundred meters for a total range of twenty-three hundred meters," she explained, pausing and tilting her head, inviting his response and feedback. She's confident her plan will work, but she wants to hear what he thinks.

He ran a hand through his hair, static sparking through his hands at his enthusiasm.

"This could be huge, Rey! It would be such an advantage. And you've already figured out how to make modifications so that they have the same capabilities as the T-70s, with the extra range they'll almost oustrip the T-85. I mean if you ask me these original T-65 have a much more agile handling anyway, they made the T-70s and 85s with-"

"Too much stabilizer on the thrusters, yeah," she agreed, finishing with a smile. He was looking at her now with something akin to surprised wonder and something she couldn't quite put a finger on, eyebrows raised to his hairline, pupils slightly blown out. They were standing so closely together looking up at the ship that Rey imagined she can almost feel the warm pulse of blood thrumming in his chest across the tiny space between them, but not touching, never quite touching. He ran another hand through his curly hair just for something to do with his hands, blowing out a somewhat shaky breath.

Rose looked back and forth between them, forgotten for the moment as they both stood with exuberant, matching grins on their faces, silent and basking in the joy of a shared passion. A grin slowly split Rose's face, and she jolted them both with a chuckle.

"Well, damn, I'll just leave you guys to it then, shall I? I don't think you need my help."

Poe let out a shaky laugh and turned from Rey to Rose. "I think we need all the help we can get, we have five ships to modify after all."

"If you can just hand me that plasma welder I'll start on this one, and we can make sure it works before we make any other changes to the others," Rey said to Rose.

"I think I'm going to claim this baby for myself once she's finished. That way I know it's had the attention of the two best engineers on base," Poe said with a roguish wink to them both.

"We'll see how it goes, we'll need to test all the ships after we've made the changes to make sure everything is working smoothly," Rey answered.

"How do you know so much about X-wings?" Poe asked curiously.

"Well, they were always the most interesting ships to find on Jakku. I found one or two almost completely intact, if inoperable, and I spent weeks stripping them and putting them back together again. I also had an old flight Y-wing computer programmed with all the schematics of Imperial and Republic starships. The X-wings were always my favorite though," she supplied matter of factly. She wasn't going to sugar coat her past to anyone, even if they were famous Resistance pilots.

"Your other X-wing was painted black, right?" Rey asked nonchalantly, changing the subject.

Poe accepted the change of subject without comment or protest. "Yeah, Black One was a one of a kind starfighter. Even had an accelerator pod retrofitted for additional thrust power," he said wistfully. "Ah, well, these will be fine, better than fine, especially after you're done with her." He shrugged, as if to say, 'nothing we can do about it now'.

Rey hmmed to herself, the beginnings of an idea forming, and she took the plasma welder to the turret.

Rey, Rose, Poe and Beebee-Ate worked through the rest of the afternoon on the ship, with a small break at Poe's insistence for lunch. They called it a day around dinner time, and joined Finn and Chewie in the mess. Rey smiled to herself as she noticed Poe discreetly slipping some of his own dinner on to her plate by her elbow, a sort of flaky meat pie that she had never tried before. She continued to listen to Finn describe his day training some of the garrison on First Order infantry maneuvers, and pretended she didn't notice.

She had an idea on how to begin to thank Poe for all his kindness, but it was going to have to wait until the hangar was quiet for the night.

 _..._

Two days later, Rey sat in meditation on a short cliff overlooking a small, calm cove on the lake. It had become her favorite place for meditation, reminding her of the place Luke had taken her to on Ahch-To that overlooked the ocean. It was a bit of a relief to get out of the base; as much as she enjoyed being in the submerged base, it had become more claustrophobic of late with the influx of Resistance members.

She had recently read about building mental defenses through meditation, how to build and layer mental shields to prevent Force intrusion and suggestion. The Jedi texts had also suggested that such defenses helped to curb physical exhaustion or pain, allowing the practitioner to block out discomforts of the flesh to achieve extraordinary feats of endurance.

Rey was envisioning the form her defenses would take, some sort of representation of the mental walls she was trying to build. She had initially thought of using the idea of sand, a sinkhole or sandstorm of some sort. Sand was impossible to grasp, the grains always escaping through your fingers, and it gradually eroded even the strongest of stones and metals. However, she had rejected that after some thought- whenever there was a choice, she wanted to distance herself from Jakku, and she would always associate sand with Jakku. She was then inspired by their current location, and the constant surroundings of the lake.

It was funny to her the similarities between sand and water; one was a constant irritant, and the other was a giver of life, the difference between survival and death. You couldn't hold water in your hands, and similar to sand, it wore down rocks and earth into great chasms and canyons. She had also seen the odd, reddish corrosion that covered some of the older droids in the base as it ate away metalloids. And so she focused filling her mind's eye with a watery abyss, imagining a space of suspended motion, a wall of water surrounding all her thoughts, her secrets, her past, and sinking them to the bottom of the abyss, impossible to be found by an intruder.

Unconsciously, she began summoning small droplets to rise from the water below her, and they weaved into a misty tunnel around her, a physical manifestation of her mental defenses. She was floating in her abyss, then diving down, down, down. There, there was a dark, inky, congealing hole in very darkest corner of the bottom of the abyss. She poked it, reaching out to it with the Force, and it was a darkly writhing thing, extending beyond the confines of her mind out into the galaxy. She realized with some alarm that it was the Force bond with Kylo Ren, tethering their minds together like a sticky stretch of dark tar, and she mentally scrambled away from it, praying that it had not been disturbed or triggered enough to start a connection between them. Outside her mind, more and more water is added to the swirling wall surrounding her, a solid sheet cocooning her from the outside world.

She floated back toward the surface of the abyss, allowing herself a faint sense of surprise that she seemed to have such an affinity for water when it had been a scarcity for most of her life. Calm surrounded her once again after she was sure Kylo Ren was not waiting for her when she came back to awareness. Friendly, familiar voices began to float up from the cove below, and she felt the presence of Finn in the Force, a comforting, happy, grounding presence that made her smile. She slowly opened her eyes and gasped as she saw the wall of water she unknowingly conjured gradually receding and splashing off the cliff into the water below. She felt inexplicably refreshed, purified, cleaned from her meditation.

Finn and Rose appeared, waving her down to them at the water's edge below. They invited her to join them for some swimming, neither of them mentioning the small waterfall she caused from the top of the cliff, thankfully.

When Finn grabbed her around the middle and tossed her a foot or so in the air to land with a splash, and as Rose swam beneath the surface pinching her toes like a small piranha, she just laughed and splashed them in response instead of pulling away. She knew she had a problem with other people's touch. There had not been many people in her life to give her affectionate, non-violent touch, and it had made her skittish and wary of practically anyone but Finn, and that had only become comfortable with time and trust.

Maybe, just maybe, Rose was another she could trust to allow her to give affectionate touch. An arm over the shoulder here, a hug there; such actions from those she cared about warmed her from her head to her toes, helped her forget about the abandonment and loss that consumed most of her life until she joined the Resistance. It reminded her that she was not alone. If she was honest with herself (and she prided herself in facing her own truth), she wanted _more_ , it was almost addictive.

So as they all walked arm in arm back to the base in the middle of the lake, she allowed a ridiculously large grin to take up residence, and Rey kept that warmth wrapped around her for the rest of the day. She was going to miss them on Coruscant.

 _..._

The hangar is finally blessedly empty at 23:00. Rey and Beebee-Ate quietly stalked towards the first X-wing that had been repaired and claimed by Poe. They had just finished the modifications to all five ships today, and they were due to be flight-tested tomorrow. But Rey and Beebee-Ate had a surprise for Poe before then.

"Beebee, did you manage to get the paint?"

Beebee-Ate beeped an affirmative, pulling out a large can from his domed outer casing.

"And you really think he will like this? He won't resent it or be disappointed he doesn't have his original ship?"

[ _Of course, he will love it Favorite Friend Rey! Most especially if we also install the accelerator pod. Master Friend Poe will be so happy.]_

"What did you tell him tonight when you left his room?"

 _[That I was helping you make some repairs to the ship. I believe Master Friend Poe assumed I meant the_ Millenium Falcon _.]_

"You are a mischievous little droid, which is what makes you the best," she chuckled fondly. "Well, let's get to work then, I can't wait to see his face tomorrow when he goes to take it out for a test run!" She exclaimed.

The paint she had instructed Beebee-Ate to obtain was in the same orange and black as his beloved _Black One_ , and she had found an accelerator pod that should work nicely, once a few adjustments were made. She had stripped it from an one of the old speeders that were in the base when they arrived. She was a scavenger- stripping parts from dysfunctional equipment and making them usable again were her specialty. It had required a bit of tinkering here and there, but she was pretty sure it would be compatible with the X-wing. The installation would need to be completed to know for sure.

"Beebee-Ate, can you take care of the paint while I get working on the accelerator pod? I'm not sure how long this is going take."

The droid hooted in agreement.

For the next several hours they worked tirelessly through the night. Finally, Beebee-Ate hooted at her that he had completed the paint job, but that he would be right back with something before he retired back to Poe's quarters to power down for the rest of the night. Rey nodded an ok, covering a slight yawn as she kept her attention to connecting the correct wiring.

Beebee-Ate returned a short time later with a small bundle in his pinchers, beeping for her attention. Rey jumped down from her position on the starship and knelt down in front of him, gently taking the package. She pulled back the brown wrappings and was surprised to find one of the Resistance standard issue plain white undershirts. It wasn't new by any means (she doubted much of the Resistance supplies was new anymore) and was well-worn in, but it was clean.

Rey held it up questioningly. "Beebee-Ate what's this for?"

 _[I noticed that you did not have any sleep clothes! Master Friend Poe always sleeps in a sleep shirt and pants that are different from his day clothes. So I brought you one.]_

Rey's cheeks colored at the thought of what Poe wore to bed. She sincerely hoped the droid had just taken initiative' and that it wasn't something he had talked about with Poe. Or at least that it had been a straightforward conversation such as 'oh, Rey may not have clothes to sleep in. Can you bring her some Beebee-Ate?' How embarrassing. She appreciated the things Poe did for her, she really did, but this was almost too personal. She shook the thought off and decided to just thank the droid and not overthink it. She would deal with it then if anything else like this happened again.

She cleared her throat. "Erm, thanks, Beebee-Ate. That was nice of you. Did Poe ask you to give this to me?"

 _[No, as I said, I noticed you didn't have any. So I brought you one. Do you like it Favorite Friend Rey?]_

She inwardly sighed in relief. No harm done then, Beebee-Ate was just being thoughtful. "Yeah, I really like it, it seems soft. Thanks, Beebee." She gave him a little hug and stood up.

"Why don't you get back to Poe before he gets worried. I'll see you tomorrow, hopefully with this pod accelerator install completed. Remember, keep it a secret from Poe!"

Beebee-Ate shrilled in agreement and whistled a good night before rolling out the hangar doors.

Rey continued her work for about another hour, making one last wire connection, one more tightening of a bolt, and a check to the intake tube before sighing in relief at the completed job, swiping her forehead from the sweat of exertion. She gave the pod one more double check to make sure all was in order, before hopping down off the body of the ship and stepping back to take in the overall changes she and Beebee-Ate completed.

It was a handsome, sharp ship, sure to be the pride of the fleet. Rey gave a yawn of exhaustion, and a satisfied nod to herself before making her way to her bunk in the _Falcon_.

She changed into the shirt Beebee-Ate brought her, inhaling the faint scent of engine oil, and verdant trees after a rainstorm (she only recognized this smell from experiencing it on Naboo), acknowledging that her under clothes and the shirt certainly made for more comfortable sleeping attire than the 3 pairs of day clothes she cycled through. She burrowed into her bunk and fell asleep imagining the look on Poe's face when he saw his new starship the next day.

"I'm not entirely sure this test flight is even necessary. We all know that anything Rey and Rose touch turns to gold," Poe said jokingly, "aircraft wise." He added almost as an afterthought.

"They may be talented engineers, but let's not be hasty." Leia chimed in. Rey, Finn, and Rose trailed behind Poe, Leia, and 4 other pilots from Red and Blue squadron on the way to the hangar, exchanging amused grins. Rey had told Finn and Rose about the surprise for Poe earlier that morning, and they were all looking forward to his reaction.

The heavy interior blast doors to the hangar slid open with a hiss, and the troup filed through, a light air of excitement and anticipation surrounding them. The Resistance was about to have a functioning star fleet again, and Red and Blue Squadrons needed a metaphorical 'win' after the past rough months.

Several of the pilots in front of her stuttered their steps to a stop, immediately ceasing their animated chatter. Rey nervously made her way to the front of the group to better see Poe's reaction. He stood stock still, eyes wide and mouth gaping open and closed like the Nubian fish that danced outside the plastisteel of the base. Slowly, the entire group turned to look at Poe who seemed frozen in place, unable to tear his gaze from the black X-wing. Leia caught her eye and gave her an encouraging nod.

Rey slowly stepped toward Poe and cleared her throat nervously, and he whipped his head towards her, expression unreadable.

"Erm, if you don't like it, we can repaint it to the standard colors."

"This was you? You did all this?"

Rey shifted uncomfortably, heat flooding the tops of her cheeks. "Beebee-Ate helped as well." The astromech rolled forward and beeped affirmative. "I'm nearly 100% confident the accelerator pod will function correctly, Beebee-Ate should be able to confirm when he runs his pre-flight checks." She rambled nervously. "Do you like it?"

Poe raised both hands to run through his hair, pulling on the ends and responding with an incredulous laugh. "Like it?! You brilliant woman, I love it! I thought I had seen the end of _Black One."_

He took two long strides toward her and stopped abruptly. "May I, err, would it be ok if I gave you a hug?" he asked, holding his hands out awkwardly.

Rey threw her head back in a relieved laugh. "Yes, Poe, you can give me a hug."

Beaming, he strode forward the last half step, arms enfolding her waist and swinging her around in a bone crushing hug. She let out a surprised meep that turned into a laugh as he slowed the momentum of the turn and brought her feet back to the ground. He pulled back from the hug, and Rey became acutely aware of the hands still on her waist, her awareness zeroed in on the two spots of gentle pressure. Heat danced out from his palms, seeping through her tunic and spanning across her abdomen.

"Thank you, really." He said earnestly, stepping away and wrenched his eyes back to the small group who was still standing there, watching their display. He raised his eyebrows at Leia, who gave him a knowing look and a slight role of the eyes.

"Alright everybody, time to get to the sky. Let's put these T-65s through their paces. You should all be aware of the changes Rose and Rey made from the briefing, so pay specific attention to testing these capabilities out." Leia gave two brisk claps of her hands to spur them forward, and the rest of the group dispersed to start the pre-flight checks on the other X-wings.

Poe dropped to one knee in front of Beebee-Ate to thank the astromech as well, lavishing him with thanks and praise as the droid beeped cheerfully, preening in pride that his paint job was appreciated.

Leia, Finn, and Rose approached the three of them as Poe began to circle the X-wing inspecting it thoroughly.

"This was very thoughtful of you, Rey." Leia said quietly as the others were occupied with the ship. "I know it seems like nothing ever gets to him, but the past month or so since evacuating D'Qar have been harder on him than most. He just buries it deeper."

She took Rey's hand, squeezing gently. "This will brighten things up considerably, so, thank you, for all the work you and Rose have done on the ships. It has been invaluable both strategically for re-building the fleet, and for morale."

"I'm happy to help and be useful however I can." Rey smiled back, watching as the others poked around the ship and Beebee-Ate stationed himself in the astromech compartment above the cockpit and began his pre-flight check.

"Hey, Poe, so what are you going to call her? _Black One_ again?" Finn called out.

"Nah, she deserves her own name. It'll be _Black Two_ for this girl. Maybe not the most original, but I can't think of her as anything else."

Poe leaped up to the cockpit, buckling in and running diagnostics before finally firing up the engine for the first time. Rey, Finn, Rose and Leia backed away to a safer distance and watched as the Red and Blue Squadrons began taking off one by one, the massive hangar door opening up to allow them to blast into the air. Last to leave, Poe looked directly at Rey and gave a jaunty salute before thrusting _Black Two_ into the air.

After making their way to the control tower hidden amongst the trees of the island, they watched on the console as the squadrons performed their flight tests, listening to the jubilant communications between the pilots as they pushed the ships to their limits. Overall, the tests were a massive success, with _Black Two_ outstripping the others with the use of the accelerator pod, performing barrel roles and inverse turns, much Leia's chagrin. Rey just smirked, itching to get back in the sky with the _Falcon_ to give _Black Two_ a challenge.

As they landed, each pilot thanked Rey and Rose with a wide smile and a pat on the back. All in all, she had never felt such a sense of belonging, of being part of something.

You're wrong, Kylo, Rey thought. You're wrong, and I will continue to prove it.

 _..._

The next few days passed quickly, and before Rey knew it she was preparing supplies for their mission to Coruscant: rations stacked, several blasters cleaned and ready, tools, extra maintenance on the _Falcon_. Chewie and Rose had told her many stories about the planet city, keeping her and Finn enraptured with reports of endless skyscrapers and billions and billions of lifeforms. Though formerly the capital of the Empire, it was teeming with trade, industry, and politics and subsequently, riots.

"Now Coruscant is not free of First Order influence by any means. You will have to be on your guard at all times for informants, spies, and even open hostility." Leia told them in their mission briefing later that evening. "Especially with the recent riots against First Order presence, you will need to be on your guard. The city is filled with unrest."

"But it's important that our potential allies see you and meet with you. Rey, your presence will prove to them that the Jedi are not yet gone." Leia paused, seemingly wrestling with her emotions. _Luke._ Rey thought regretfully.

Gaining control once more, Leia continued. "You will be able to show them that we have the power of the Force on our side, with the ability to defeat the Supreme Leader. The Jedi are still associated throughout the galaxy as legends of greatness, good, and the Power of the Force. It may persuade them to throw their support behind us."

She turned to Poe next, before Rey had a chance to comment or question the strategy. "Poe, I know you have doubts about why you're going on the mission, but I need you to start becoming more involved in an upper leadership position of the Resistance, and that means being the face of the Rebellion to our potential allies and learning negotiation and diplomacy, making your own contacts. I'm not going to be around forever" The General said matter of factly, before smiling and giving a chuckle. "After all, you're a bit of a legend yourself- famous pilot, son of Rebel heroes…. between the two of you I think you'll make a good team and the mission has a good chance of success."

"Now," She beckoned them closer so they could peer over a map of the Galactic City. "For most of the mission, you should be fine staying in the former Imperial Palace and the Old Jedi Temple as Rey conducts her research. It won't be the most comfortable- it's abandoned after all-but that is what precisely makes it such a good place to take cover. No one will know or expect you to be there."

She rotated the map around and zoomed into another sector of the city, near the old Federal district. "On the days of your meetings, I have secured an apartment for you near the old Republic Executive Building. You will be relatively close to our contacts there. It's nothing luxurious, but it was the best I could find on such short notice that met security requirements. You'll be meeting with Merl Ackbar, Admiral Ackbar's son, and one of Mon Cala's former senators, Gron Marrab. The Mon Calas have been historically willing to support us with warships in both the Galactic Civil War and then against the First Order. I have reason to think they will again."

She continued on. "From Chandrila, you'll be meeting with Rath Shae. She is a former protegee of Mon Mothma, and while she had no involvement in the First Rebellion, she has contacts on Chandrila who might be willing to provide monetary backing to our cause."

Rey and Poe both nodded in understanding, taking datapads with the stored mission information from Leia.

The General led them both back over to the table to sit. "This is the perfect time for this mission. The Resistance is re-building, slowly, but we're gaining strength again. And with all the recent headlines about the First Order's incompetence since Snoke's death, we want you to be seen and project an image of the hope, peace, and acceptance that the First Order is incapable of, as well as showing that we have strength too. Enough for anyone that might be sympathetic with our cause."

She moved to pull out two packages from a nearby storage locker. "I had these procured for you, for official Resistance representation." She handed Poe a set of more formal fatigues, a Resistance Pilot uniform with an olive green over tunic, with proper patches and insignia indicating his rank, and dark trouser rolled his eyes but nodded and accepted the uniform nonetheless.

Leia turned to Rey with her parcel. "These are the more traditional Jedi robes. It's not as important for you to wear these as Poe to wear the uniform, but I figured I would give them to you anyway. Had to call in quite a few favors to get these made." Rey shook open the long, grey cloak and cream colored tunic and darker breaches, touching them slightly hesitant.

"But I don't even have a lightsaber yet, why would they believe I'm a Jedi?" Rey asked, intimidated.

Leia chuckled, "Use the Force! The lightsaber may be one of the most well known things people think of when it comes to Jedi, but I know Luke would say that there's more to it than just 'waving around a laser sword'."

"Ya, like lifting rocks." Rey muttered sarcastically, shaking her head to herself.

"Now, any other questions? Just remember, as we used to say in the Rebel Alliance, 'Rebellions are built on hope'. Don't forget that we are the spark of that hope in the galaxy."

"No questions from me, General." Poe answered.

"I'm good, too." Rey chimed in.

"Alright, well good luck to you both." Leia dismissed them.

Rey and Poe left the comm center, stopping in front of the hallway junction at which they would go their separate ways, Poe to the barracks, Rey to the _Falcon_. Poe leaned against the wall, arms crossed and Rey turned towards him.

"Departure at 0700 tomorrow?" Poe asked.

"That's the plan, the _Falcon_ should be ready. I think I've packed all we should need."

"Ok, I'll be there early to help with prep and pre-flight checks. You doing ok with this?" He gestured vaguely, somehow managing to look both relaxed and concerned at the same time.

Rey let out a puff of breath and shrugged unconvincingly. "I'm not sure if I'm ready for the diplomatic side, but I'm hoping the research will give me what I'm looking for."

Poe straightened up, tilting his head in interest. "The General never actually told me what you were going to be looking for at the Temple, may I ask what you'll be researching?"

Rey shuffled her feet, looking at a spot above his head as she answered. "Well lightsaber construction for one, and anything I can find about the Force and the Jedi in general." She waved her hand vaguely, deliberately hedging.

"I only actually trained with Luke for a couple days, I barely know anything about being a Jedi." She said sadly, thinking of Luke's sacrifice.

"Well, if you need my help you have it. I'll be looking for leads on weapons supplies while you're studying, but other than that I'm yours to command." He said, adding a flourishing bow and a wink. Straightening again, he continued, "and don't worry too much about the meetings with the Mon Cala and Chandrila representatives. It won't compare to facing down Kylo Ren."

He shivered slightly at this, and Rey was suddenly reminded that he had been captured and tortured by Kylo Ren, just as she. At that point she made a decision: Poe was someone she had tentatively come to trust, someone she considered a friend. If he was hurting, and if there was some way she could help take away that hurt, even through physical touch, she wanted do it, despite her discomfort. Others in the Resistance, including Finn and Rose and even Poe with that hug had always been the one to initiate contact. She could be brave, and risk touch as well, risk that rejection.

She reached out slowly, and his eyes fixed on her hand approaching him. Holding her breath, she gently laid it on his forearm where it had been re-crossed in front of his body, as if to ward off an attack, and lightly traced her thumb back and forth across his skin before drawing the hand back to her side.

"I just have to keep telling myself that all of this is to defeat Kylo Ren. You're right, we can manage a few meetings if it will help us accomplish that." She smiled one more time reassuringly, then began to walk slowly away, toward the hangar. "I'll see you in the morning. And don't forget that uniform, Commander. Don't think I didn't see that eye roll." She tossed back with a wave.

She heard Poe chuckle as he shot back "Same to you _Jedi_."

More people than she had literally seen in her life, a city the size of an entire planet, abandoned temples, riots, and politics. And one flyboy thrown in to boot. It was going to be an interesting mission.

 _..._

AN: Whew, ok this was a long chapter, the X-Wing scenes were pretty challenging to write, you have no idea how long I spent looking stuff up on Wookiepedia and other sites. I'm sure it's not all accurate, but hopefully it'll do!

I wanted to give Rey more scenes with Finn and Rose, but it just didn't pan out for this chapter, but I hope you liked her interaction with Rose at least. I had to give her some female friendship!

Also, I'm not sure who in Red and Blue Squadron lived from TLJ (so much carnage!) but if anyone can point me in the right direction I'll start including the specific pilots in the story (like Jessika Pava! please be alive *cries*).

Lastly, I hope it was obvious that the blurbs at the beginning of the chapter were holonews headlines. If not, let me know and I'll revise the chapter so that's more obvious.


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